Pone 0242904

PLOS ONE
RESEARCH ARTICLE
The role of personality in the thoughts,

feelings, and behaviors of students in
Germany during the first weeks of the COVID-
19 pandemic
Eva Asselmann ID1*, Lex Borghans2, Raymond Montizaan2, Philipp Seegers2,3
1 Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany, 2 Maastricht University,

a1111111111 School of Business and Economics, Maastricht, The Netherlands, 3 CASE Candidate Select, Köln, Germany
a1111111111
a1111111111 * eva.asselmann@hu-berlin.de
a1111111111
a1111111111
Abstract
We examined how the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of 6,957 students from Germany,
assessed between March 16 and April 21, 2020, when COVID-19 became a serious health
OPEN ACCESS
concern in Germany, varied by personality. The Big Five personality traits—openness to
Citation: Asselmann E, Borghans L, Montizaan R, experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and emotional stability—were
Seegers P (2020) The role of personality in the
thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of students in
assessed with the International Personality Item Pool. Students were asked whether they
Germany during the first weeks of the COVID-19 kept up with the COVID-19 news, followed specific governmental rules and recommenda-
pandemic. PLoS ONE 15(11): e0242904. https:// tions (washing hands more, using public transport less, avoiding larger crowds, and restrict-
doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242904
ing meetings with family/friends), hoarded supplies, felt less secure in public places, or
Editor: Valerio Capraro, Middlesex University, expected financial losses due to the crisis. Logistic regressions adjusted for sociodemo-
UNITED KINGDOM
graphic factors and cognitive abilities revealed that more conscientious (odds ratio (OR) =
Received: August 21, 2020 1.133) and more agreeable (OR = 1.285) students kept up with the news more. More agree-
Accepted: November 12, 2020 able students were also more likely to wash their hands more often/intensively (OR =
Published: November 30, 2020
1.262), use public transport less (OR = 1.182), avoid crowds (OR = 1.320), and restrict
meetings with family/friends (OR = 1.410). Other Big Five traits were not associated with
Copyright: © 2020 Asselmann et al. This is an open
access article distributed under the terms of the
these behaviors, except that less emotionally stable individuals tended to use public trans-
Creative Commons Attribution License, which port less often (OR = 1.162). Additionally, less emotionally stable students, in particular,
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and more often bought more supplies than usual (OR = 1.322), felt insecure in public spaces
reproduction in any medium, provided the original
(OR = 1.597), and expected financial losses (OR = 1.270). Moreover, less open (OR =
author and source are credited.
0.876) and more conscientious (OR = 1.235) students more often felt insecure in public
Data Availability Statement: The data of the
spaces, and more extraverted individuals more often expected financial losses (OR =
Fachkraft 2030 study were collected in
collaboration with Studitemps GmbH since 2012. 1.180). Taken together, our findings suggest that more agreeable individuals, in particular,
Within this collaboration, Studitemps invites all tend to comply with governmental rules and recommendations to fight COVID-19, whereas
members of its JobMensa database twice every less emotionally stable individuals, in particular, tend to hoard supplies, feel insecure, and
year to participate in the survey. Both the
fear financial losses due to the crisis.
collaboration agreement with Studitemps and the
data privacy statement for participating students
rule out the possibility of sharing any data
assessed in the Fachkraft 2030 survey on openly
accessible databases. For further information, see
https://studitemps.de/wp-content/uploads/2018/
PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242904 November 30, 2020 1 / 14

PLOS ONE Personality and thoughts, feelings, and behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic
09/Datenschutzerkl%C3%A4rung-Fachkraft-2030. Introduction
pdf and https://studitemps.de/wp-content/uploads/
2018/09/ Einwilligungserkl%C3%A4rung- In March 2020, public health measures were taken in many countries to prevent the further
Fachkraftstudie-2030.pdf. All interested spread of COVID-19. At the time, people suddenly had to adjust to a completely new situation.
researchers will be able to access the data, Now, several months later, we know that especially younger individuals sometimes engaged in
including replications of this study, for the sole potentially problematic behaviors at the beginning of the pandemic (e.g., mass events or par-
purpose of conducting academic research.
ties) [1]. How did young adults think, feel, and behave during the first weeks of the COVID-19
Alternatively, for replication purposes, researchers
can submit Stata do-files, which will be run for pandemic? Psychological research suggests that individuals can differ considerably in their
them by a member of the research group. Further ways of handling this challenging new situation [2] and that these individual differences could
information on the data and data access can be be partially explained by the Big Five personality traits openness to experience, conscientious-
obtained from the research group at Maastricht ness, extraversion, agreeableness, and emotional stability [3–10]. Investigating the role of the
University, School of Business and Economics,
Big Five personality traits in students’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors during the first weeks
Department of Macro, International, and Labour
Economics, Economics of Education (fachkraft-
of the COVID-19 pandemic is crucial not only for our understanding of human behavior, but
sbe@maastrichtuniversity.nl), and from the also for applied research on targeted interventions to fight COVID-19 and associated unfavor-
principal investigator of the survey, Philipp Seegers able consequences [11–13].
(p.seegers@maastrichtuniversity.nl).
Funding: The author(s) received no specific Openness to experience

funding for this work. Open individuals tend to seek out new and unconventional ideas and experiences and to be
Competing interests: The authors have declared flexible, curious, and creative [14–16]. During the COVID-19 pandemic, more open individu-
that no competing interests exist. als could therefore be more likely to be interested in what is going on, to have fewer difficulties
adjusting to the new situation, and to find more unconventional ways of coping with it.
Conscientiousness
Conscientious individuals tend to be responsible, dutiful, and self-disciplined [14,17]. There-
fore, highly conscientious individuals, in particular, could strictly follow governmental rules
and recommendations to fight the virus and change their behavior accordingly.
Extraversion
Extraverted individuals tend to be outgoing and sociable [14]. Therefore, more extraverted
individuals could have greater difficulties eliminating social contacts and activities, avoiding
crowds, and staying away from public places and activities. Consequently, more extraverted
individuals could engage less strictly in social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Agreeableness
Agreeable individuals tend to be kind, cooperative, and respectful [14]. During the COVID-19
pandemic, more agreeable individuals could thus comply more strictly with socially desirable
safety rules and strive to support and protect others to maintain positive relationships with
them. To avoid deviations from social norms and expectations, they could also pay stronger
attention to other people’s behavior during these challenging times and adjust accordingly.
Emotional stability
Less emotionally stable individuals tend to be more susceptible to stress and negative emotions
such as depression and anxiety [14,18]. Therefore, less emotionally stable individuals could
feel more distressed, depressed, anxious, and burdened during the COVID-19 pandemic. For
example, they could be more disturbed by the new situation, be more cautious, and tend more
toward safety and avoidance behavior. Less emotionally stable individuals might not only fol-
low the governmental rules more strictly, but also take additional private measures (e.g.,
hoarding supplies) to stay safe, avoid potential harm, and fight their fear.

Previous findings concerning the role of personality during the COVID-19

pandemic
Only a few previous studies have examined the role of the Big Five personality traits for specific
thoughts, feelings, or behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic [3–9]. A recent study among
2,066 adults (aged between 18 and 98 years) from the United States examined associations of
the Big Five personality traits with financial concerns, containment measures (e.g., washing
hands), and hoarding supplies in early March 2020 [4]. It found that more open individuals
engaged more in containment measures and hoarded food more often. More conscientious
individuals were less concerned about their financial situation and engaged more in contain-
ment measures. More extraverted individuals reported higher financial concerns, were more
strongly engaged in containment measures, and hoarded supplies more often. More agreeable
individuals reported lower financial concerns and engaged more in containment measures.
Finally, less emotionally stable individuals reported higher financial concerns and engaged less
in containment measures.
Another study investigated the role of conscientiousness and extraversion in social distanc-
ing and washing hands among 715 adults (aged between 18 and 78 years) from Brazil [3]. The
findings suggest that more conscientious individuals engaged more in social distancing and
washed their hands more, whereas more extraverted individuals were less compliant in terms
of social distancing.
These previous studies covered the entire adult life span. As the COVID-19 pandemic has
evolved, it has become clear that younger people, in particular, sometimes tend to underesti-
mate the potential threat of COVID-19 and insufficiently comply with governmental rules and
recommendations [1]. Moreover, recent findings suggest that younger individuals, in particu-
lar, tend to suffer from loneliness and mental health issues due to lockdown measures and
social distancing [19,20]. Finally, younger adults (e.g., students) are oftentimes about to apply
for jobs, start working life, and establish a career. Thus, they might perceive the consequences
of COVID-19 on the economy and job market as particularly harmful [21]. Taken together,
additional research is needed to focus particularly on younger people’s thoughts, feelings, and
behaviors in spring 2020, when COVID-19 became a serious health concern around the globe.
Aims
The aim of this study is to investigate associations between the Big Five personality traits and
students’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors during the first three weeks of the COVID-19 pan-
demic in Germany. We studied about 7,000 students in Germany from March 16 until April
21, 2020, approximately the time when the government in Germany introduced public health
measures to prevent further spread of the disease.
Health regulation in Germany takes place at the state level. Therefore, different German
states created slightly different regulations. From March 16 onward, most schools and univer-
sities in Germany closed to prevent further spread of COVID-19. Additional measures were
taken a week later: people were only allowed to meet with a maximum of one other person or
with people from their own household. People were recommended to avoid larger groups,
keep a distance of 1.5 meters from others, and go to work/use public transport only when abso-
lutely necessary.
We collected data on the Big Five personality traits and cognitive abilities. Moreover, partic-
ipants indicated whether they (a) kept abreast of the news, (b) complied with governmental
rules and recommendations, and (c) hoarded supplies, felt less secure, or feared financial losses
due to the crisis.

Hypotheses
Our hypotheses (with respect to each individual behavior and trait; see Table 1) were preregis-
tered at https://osf.io/w5nqz. Our hypotheses were as follows. More open and more agreeable
students are more likely to keep abreast of the news. More conscientious, more agreeable, and
less emotionally stable students are more likely to comply with official rules and recommenda-
tions. Less emotionally stable students are more likely to hoard supplies, feel less secure, and
fear financial losses due to the crisis.
Data and methodology

Study
We used data from the Fachkraft 2030 survey [22], which aims to measure the life situation
and expectations of students in Germany from a general and economic perspective. The survey
targets students at research universities (Universität) and universities of applied science (Fach-
hochschule) in Germany. The study is being carried out by one of the authors (Philipp Seegers)
in collaboration with Studitemps, which invites all students of its very large job network, Job-
Mensa, to participate. Responses from about 325,000 students in 16 waves since 2012 have
been collected so far.
The survey is a repeated cross-sectional study conducted twice a year, in March and Sep-
tember. The survey focuses on life circumstances and expectations. In the end, students can
participate in a psychological assessment that includes measurements of the Big Five personal-
ity traits and cognitive abilities. In this study, we used data from the 16th wave of the online
Fachkraft 2030 survey, conducted between March 16 and April 21, 2020 (with most of the
responses recorded between March 16 and April 9, 2020).
In the past, no systematic differences between participants of the Fachkraft 2030 survey and
the German student population (as reported by the German Federal Statistical Office, Destatis)
could be found, except that women were overrepresented by roughly 10 percentage points
[22]. This overrepresentation of women is similar to that in another large study among stu-
dents (Sozialerhebung) funded by the German government [23]. Compared to that study, the
Fachkraft 2030 survey comprises a similar proportion of employed students, an important
observation, given that the students are invited to participate through JobMensa.
All previous publications related to the survey, including yearly reports of the data, can be
found at www.fachkraft2030.de, which links to the Studitemps website. All publications
Table 1. Hypothesized associations between the Big Five personality traits and students’ thoughts, feelings, and
behaviors during the first three weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany.
O C E A Low ES
1 I consciously keep an eye on the news situation + +
2 I wash my hands more often/intensively + + +
3 I use public transport less often/not at all + + +
4 I avoid (larger) crowds + − + +
5 I restrict meetings with family/friends as a precaution + − + +
6 I have bought more supplies than usual − +
7 I feel more insecure in public space than usual +
8 I expect financial losses (e.g. due to loss of my student job) − + +
Note. O = Openness; C = Conscientiousness; E = Extraversion; A = Agreeableness; ES = low emotional stability.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242904.t001

include a detailed description of the data in comparison to the demographics of the German
student population.
Assessment of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors due to the crisis

The 16th wave of the Fachkraft 2030 survey was conducted when the COVID-19 pandemic
had became a serious national health concern in Germany. Therefore, participants of this wave
were asked how the COVID-19 pandemic crisis affected their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors
in everyday life. Specifically, the participants were asked to answer eight statements with either
yes or no. One item captured whether participants kept an eye on the news situation (“I con-
sciously keep an eye on the news situation”). Four items assessed whether participants com-
plied with official rules and recommendations (“I wash my hands more often/intensively”; “I
use public transport less often/not at all”; “I avoid (larger) crowds”; “I restrict meetings with
family/friends as a precaution”). Finally, three items measured whether participants hoarded
supplies (“I have bought more supplies than usual”), felt less secure (“I feel more insecure in
public space than usual”), or feared financial losses (“I expect financial losses; e.g. due to loss of
my student job”) due to the crisis.
Assessment of the Big Five personality traits

The Big Five personality traits—openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion,
agreeableness, and emotional stability—were assessed with the International Personality Item
Pool (IPIP; S1 Table) [24]. The IPIP consists of 50 items with different statements describing
the participants. The participants had to indicate their agreement with these descriptions,
using a scale of one (“very inaccurate”) to five (“very accurate”). Example items are “Have a
vivid imagination” for openness to experience, “Pay attention to details” for conscientiousness,
“Talk to many different people at parties” for extraversion, “Sympathize with others’ feelings”
for agreeableness, and “Am easily disturbed” for low emotional stability. In the sample consid-
ered in this paper, internal consistencies were α = 0.86 for openness to experience, α = 0.83 for
conscientiousness, α = 0.76 for extraversion, α = 0.85 for agreeableness, and α = 0.75 for emo-
tional stability.
Assessment of cognitive abilities

Cognitive abilities were assessed with 27 Raven’s Progressive Matrices. Each respondent
received six questions from this set, including three of 15 relatively easy items and three out of
12 relatively difficult items, chosen randomly (the difficulty of each item was determined
based on previous waves). We applied Item Response Theory (IRT) with a two-parameter
logistic parametrization (using Stata 15.1) to create a measure of cognitive ability.
Statistical analysis
Using logistic regressions, we analyzed the associations (Odds Ratios, OR) of the Big Five per-
sonality traits (standardized predictors with Mean zero and SD = 1) with specific thoughts,
feelings, and behaviors during the first weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic (with binary out-
comes 1 = yes and 0 = no). Separate models were built for each behavioral outcome. The Big
Five personality traits were included simultaneously as multiple predictors. The analyses were
adjusted for cognitive abilities (standardized score), linear age (centered score with a mean of
zero), and quadratic age (squared term of the linear age variable), as well as gender (female,
male, and diverse). In line with non-binary gender concepts, the category ‘diverse’ was assessed
to account for diverse gender identities that are not exclusively masculine or feminine.

Cognitive abilities were included as a control variable because higher cognitive abilities have
been associated with (a) higher health literacy and adherence to (public) health measures [25],
as well as with personality, especially greater openness [26]. Not only linear but also quadratic
age was included to account for nonlinear (i.e., U-shaped) age effects.
Our study was conducted at the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany.
Because participants could have completed the survey slightly before, during, or after specific
governmental rules and recommendations were introduced, we repeated the analyses and
additionally controlled for timing effects (i.e., by including a dummy for each day of answering
the survey).
The alpha level was set at 0.05. To control for multiple testing, we applied the by-method of
Benjamini and Hochberg [27].
Results
Sample characteristics
The Fachkraft survey consists of a short and a long version. After a short survey with basic
questions, the participants are invited to take part in a second part that includes psychological
measures. Overall, 15,330 students took part in the 16th wave of the online Fachkraft 2030 sur-
vey, of whom 7,219 students participated in the personality assessment. Of these individuals,
64 did not provide full information on their personality, another 24 did not complete Raven’s
Progressive Matrices, and 174 did not provide full information on their demographics, leaving
a final sample of 6,957 students for the analyses. Of these, 4,267 (61%) were female, 2,641
(38%) were male, and 49 (0.7%) identified as being diverse. The mean age of the sample was
23.93 years (SD = 3.63 years; range: 15 to 34 years).
Frequencies of specific thoughts, feelings, and behaviors during the first

weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic
Of the total sample, 4,313 individuals (62%) indicated they consciously were keeping up with
the news. Furthermore, the majority indicated complying with governmental rules and recom-
mendations to prevent further spread of the virus: 4,661 (67%) washed their hands more
often/intensively than usual, 3,965 (57%) used public transport less or not at all, 4,940 (71%)
avoided crowds, and 4,731 (68%) restricted meetings with family or friends as a precaution.
Finally, 1,183 (17%) bought more supplies than usual, 1,948 (28%) felt more insecure in public
spaces, and 2,783 (40%) expected financial losses due to the crisis.
The role of personality

Table 2 shows the associations between the Big Five personality traits and specific thoughts,
feelings, and behaviors during the first weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, adjusted for cogni-
tive abilities, age, and gender, which are summarized in Table 3 (equivalent to Table 1). The
correlations between all of these variables are presented in S2 Table.
Control variables
With respect to cognitive abilities, our models revealed that individuals with higher cognitive
abilities more often conscientiously kept up on the news (OR = 1.117). With one exception
(washing hands more often/intensively), individuals with higher cognitive abilities also com-
plied more often with governmental rules and recommendations (OR from 1.126 to 1.222).
Additionally, higher cognitive abilities were unrelated to hoarding supplies and related to

Table 2. Associations between the Big Five personality traits and students’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors during the first three weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic
in Germany.
(1) I consciously keep an eye on the news situation
Predictor OR SE p pcor
Openness 0.959 0.048 0.402 0.536
Conscientiousness 1.133 0.053 0.008 0.018
Extraversion 1.018 0.043 0.665 0.739
Agreeableness 1.285 0.058 <0.001 <0.001
Low emotional stability 1.043 0.044 0.322 0.460
Cognitive ability 1.117 0.043 0.004 0.009
Age 1.723 0.136 <0.001 <0.001
Age2 0.988 0.002 <0.001 <0.001
Gender: female (vs. male) 0.957 0.055 0.441 0.569
Gender: diverse (vs. male) 0.860 0.262 0.620 0.709
Gender: diverse (vs. female) 0.899 0.273 0.725 0.773
(2) I wash my hands more often/intensively
Openness 0.887 0.046 0.021 0.046
Extraversion 1.049 0.045 0.265 0.400
Agreeableness 1.262 0.059 <0.001 <0.001
Age 2.251 0.183 <0.001 <0.001
Age2 0.982 0.002 <0.001 <0.001
Gender: Femalefemale (vs. male) 0.920 0.055 0.161 0.268
(3) I use public transport less often/not at all
Openness 0.995 0.049 0.924 0.924
Extraversion 1.066 0.044 0.121 0.214
Agreeableness 1.182 0.053 <0.001 0.001
Low emotional stability 1.162 0.049 <0.001 0.001
Age 1.863 0.148 <0.001 <0.001
Age2 0.986 0.002 <0.001 <0.001
(4) I avoid (larger) crowds
Openness 0.980 0.054 0.716 0.769
Extraversion 0.928 0.042 0.102 0.193
Agreeableness 1.320 0.065 <0.001 <0.001
(Continued )

Table 2. (Continued)
Age 2.337 0.195 <0.001 <0.001

Age2 0.981 0.016 <0.001 <0.001
(5) I restrict meetings with family/friends as a precaution
Openness 0.954 0.051 0.381 0.534
Extraversion 1.021 0.045 0.640 0.718
Agreeableness 1.410 0.068 <0.001 <0.001
Cognitive ability 1.222 0.049 <0.001 <0.001
Age 2.337 1.928 <0.001 <0.001
Age2 0.981 0.016 <0.001 <0.001
(6) I have bought more supplies than usual
Openness 0.980 0.062 0.749 0.789
Extraversion 0.991 0.052 0.862 0.874
Agreeableness 0.941 0.054 0.297 0.440
Low emotional stability 1.322 0.071 <0.001 <0.001
Age 1.356 0.143 0.004 0.009
Age2 0.994 0.002 0.003 0.008
(7) I feel more insecure in public space than usual
Openness 0.876 0.047 0.014 0.031
Conscientiousness 1.235 0.063 <0.001 <0.001
Extraversion 0.991 0.044 0.845 0.867
Agreeableness 1.041 0.051 0.409 0.536
Age 1.472 0.132 <0.001 <0.001
Age2 0.992 0.018 <0.001 <0.001
(8) I expect financial losses (e.g. due to loss of my student job)
Openness 0.914 0.045 0.070 0.140
(Continued )

Table 2. (Continued)
Extraversion 1.180 0.048 <0.001 <0.001

Agreeableness 1.017 0.046 0.715 0.769
Cognitive ability 0.878 0.033 <0.001 0.001
Age 2.024 0.165 <0.001 <0.001
Age2 0.986 0.002 <0.001 <0.001
Note. OR = Odds Ratio from logistic regressions; SE = standard error; p = p-value; p cor = p-value, corrected for multiple testing using the by-method of Benjamini and
Hochberg.
lower probabilities of feeling insecure in public space (OR = 0.893) and of expecting financial
losses (OR = 0.878).
With regard to age, we found that older individuals more often experienced each of the
examined thoughts, feelings, and behaviors (OR from 1.356 to 2.337). However, there were no
gender differences, except that women expected financial losses less often compared to men
(OR = 0.867). Note that the number of diverse individuals was quite low, hampering the detec-
tion of gender differences between women and diverse individuals as well as between male and
diverse individuals.
Our study was conducted at the same time as public health measures were being introduced
in Germany. Because participants could have completed the survey slightly before, during, or
after their introduction, we repeated the analyses and included additional dummies for each
day of answering the survey to control for timing effects. The estimated coefficients of these
dummies (for the day the survey was taken) are presented in S1 Fig. However, regression analy-
ses revealed no significant associations of these dummy variables with the respective outcomes.
Personality
With respect to personality, we found that more conscientious (OR = 1.133) and more agree-
able (OR = 1.285) individuals more often conscientiously kept up with the news. More
Table 3. Associations found between the Big Five personality traits and students’ thoughts, feelings, and behav-
iors during the first three weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany.
O C E A Low ES
1 I consciously keep an eye on the news situation + +
2 I wash my hands more often/intensively +
3 I use public transport less often/not at all + +
4 I avoid (larger) crowds +
5 I restrict meetings with family/friends as a precaution +
6 I have bought more supplies than usual +
7 I feel more insecure in public space than usual − + +
8 I expect financial losses (e.g. due to loss of my student job) + +
Note: O = Openness; C = Conscientiousness; E = Extraversion; A = Agreeableness; ES = low emotional stability. Only

significant associations (p < 0.05 after correction for multiple testing) are considered.

agreeable individuals were also more likely to wash their hands more often/intensively
(OR = 1.262), use public transport less (OR = 1.182), avoid crowds (OR = 1.320), and restrict
meetings with family/friends (OR = 1.410). None of the other Big Five personality traits were
associated with these behaviors, except that less emotionally stable individuals were also more
likely to use public transport less (OR = 1.162). Taken together, more conscientious and more
agreeable individuals, in particular, kept up with the news, and more agreeable individuals, in
particular, complied with governmental rules and recommendations to prevent further spread
of COVID-19.
At the same time, less emotionally stable individuals, in particular, were more likely to buy
more supplies than usual (OR = 1.322), feel more insecure in public spaces than usual
(OR = 1.597), and expect financial losses (OR = 1.270). Moreover, less open (OR = 0.876) and
more conscientious (OR = 1.235) individuals more often felt insecure in public spaces, and
more extraverted individuals more often expected financial losses (OR = 1.180). Taken
together, less emotionally stable individuals, in particular, tended to hoard supplies, feel inse-
cure, and fear financial losses due to the crisis.
Discussion
How did students think, feel, and behave at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ger-
many? Our main findings are as follows: First, more agreeable individuals, in particular, kept up
with the news and complied with governmental rules and recommendations. Other Big Five
traits, however, were largely unrelated to these behaviors. Second, less emotionally stable individ-
uals, in particular, hoarded supplies, felt less secure, and feared financial losses due to the crisis.
With regard to age, we found that older students more often experienced each of the exam-
ined thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. The developmental period of young adulthood is char-
acterized by considerable change, including many age-graded major life events and transitions
[28,29]. For example, comparatively young students often still live with their parents, whereas
comparatively old students often have already started a family [30,31]. It is thus plausible to
assume that students’ daily routines and activities vary substantially by age, which might
explain our age effects on students’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors during the COVID-19
pandemic. However, in unreported additional robustness analyses, we find that our main
results on students’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic are
robust to the exclusion of very young or old students.
We found that less open individuals more often felt less secure in public spaces. This find-
ing is inconsistent with our hypotheses, but could be explained by less open individuals tend-
ing to have greater difficulties adjusting to the new situation, which could lead to higher
insecurity.
With respect to conscientiousness, our hypotheses were not confirmed, In contrast to previ-
ous research [3,4], there was no evidence that more conscientious people complied more
strictly with governmental rules and recommendations. Instead, more conscientious individu-
als more often kept up with the news and felt insecure in public spaces.
In terms of extraversion, our study revealed that more extraverted individuals more often
feared financial losses due to the crisis. This finding is consistent with our hypotheses and pre-
vious findings [4] and could be explained by the possibility that more extraverted people, in
particular, tend to work in sectors hit by the crisis (e.g., the event industry) [32]. However, no
evidence was found that more extraverted individuals were less likely to engage in social dis-
tancing, which is inconsistent with our hypotheses and other findings [3]. It is possible that
highly extraverted people tend to be particularly creative in finding alternative ways to com-
municate with others (e.g., by phone or video chat), which could explain these results.

With regard to agreeableness, we found that more agreeable individuals more often kept up
with the news and complied with governmental rules and recommendations. These findings
confirm our hypotheses and previous evidence that greater agreeableness relates to higher
engagement in containment measures [4]. One could speculate whether more agreeable people
are more willing to behave in a socially desirable way, to maintain positive relationships with
others. More agreeable individuals could also have greater empathy for vulnerable people and
thus be more motivated to adhere to public health measures to protect them [7–9,33].
Finally, our study revealed that less emotionally stable individuals more often hoarded sup-
plies, felt insecure, and feared financial losses due to the crisis. These results are consistent with
our hypotheses and previous evidence linking lower emotional stability to higher financial con-
cerns [4]. However, our assumption that less emotionally stable individuals adhere more strongly
to governmental rules and recommendations was not confirmed. Less emotionally stable individ-
uals could experience higher levels of fear, insecurity, and distress due to the COVID-19 pan-
demic. Therefore, they could feel more burdened and have lower capacities to engage in public
health measures to protect themselves and others [34], which could explain these results.
Strengths and limitations

A particular strength of our study is its large sample: We studied thousands of students just as
COVID-19 became a serious public health concern in Germany, and asked for their thoughts,
feelings, and behaviors due to the crisis. Personality was assessed with the IPIP, a well-estab-
lished and comprehensive measure [24]. Our analyses were not only adjusted for sociodemo-
graphic factors and cognitive abilities, but also controlled for multiple testing.
Although the Fachkraft 2030 survey participants have been shown to be roughly compara-
ble to the student population in Germany (e.g., in terms of sociodemographics) [23], the sur-
vey is not based on a representative sample. Thus, the generalizability of our findings to the
entire student population in Germany, non-students, older adults, and people outside of Ger-
many could be limited. Moreover, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors due to the crisis were
assessed via self-reporting only. Whether the participants actually complied with specific rules
and recommendations was not tested/observed.
Conclusions
Our study suggests that more agreeable people, in particular, tend to adhere to public health rules
and recommendations to fight COVID-19. At the same time, less emotionally stable individuals, in
particular, often hoard supplies, feel insecure, and fear financial losses due to the crisis. Such
thoughts, feelings, and behaviors could turn out to be problematic and result in a vicious cycle of
distress. For example, fearful expectations about one’s future could turn into a self-fulfilling proph-
ecy, and panic behaviors, such as hoarding supplies, can impede successful crisis management.
Our findings are of great relevance not only to basic psychological and economic sciences,
but also to applied research on targeted interventions to fight COVID-19 and associated unfa-
vorable consequences [11–13]. For example, less emotionally stable people, in particular, could
benefit from targeted interventions to cope with distress, fear, and insecurity and thus prevent
other unfavorable outcomes, such as hoarding supplies. Future research should not only repli-
cate our results, but also examine such interventions.
Supporting information
S1 Fig. Development of how specific thoughts, feelings, and behaviors toward COVID-19
changed over time.
(DOCX)

S1 Table. German translations of the English version of the International Personality Item
Pool (IPIP).
(DOCX)
S2 Table. Correlations between all predictor and outcome variables.
(DOCX)
Author Contributions
Conceptualization: Eva Asselmann, Lex Borghans, Philipp Seegers.
Data curation: Philipp Seegers.
Formal analysis: Lex Borghans, Raymond Montizaan, Philipp Seegers.
Investigation: Eva Asselmann, Lex Borghans, Raymond Montizaan, Philipp Seegers.
Methodology: Lex Borghans, Raymond Montizaan, Philipp Seegers.
Project administration: Eva Asselmann, Lex Borghans, Philipp Seegers.
Supervision: Lex Borghans, Philipp Seegers.
Writing – original draft: Eva Asselmann, Lex Borghans, Philipp Seegers.
Writing – review & editing: Eva Asselmann, Lex Borghans, Raymond Montizaan, Philipp
Seegers.
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PLOS ONE

The role of personality in the thoughts,

1 Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany, 2 Maastricht University,

PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242904 November 30, 2020 1 / 14

Funding: The author(s) received no specific Openness to experience

PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242904 November 30, 2020 2 / 14

Previous findings concerning the role of personality during the COVID-19

PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242904 November 30, 2020 3 / 14

Data and methodology

Note. O = Openness; C = Conscientiousness; E = Extraversion; A = Agreeableness; ES = low emotional stability.

PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242904 November 30, 2020 4 / 14

Assessment of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors due to the crisis

Assessment of the Big Five personality traits

Assessment of cognitive abilities

PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242904 November 30, 2020 5 / 14

Frequencies of specific thoughts, feelings, and behaviors during the first

The role of personality

PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242904 November 30, 2020 6 / 14

PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242904 November 30, 2020 7 / 14

Age 2.337 0.195 <0.001 <0.001

PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242904 November 30, 2020 8 / 14

Extraversion 1.180 0.048 <0.001 <0.001

Note: O = Openness; C = Conscientiousness; E = Extraversion; A = Agreeableness; ES = low emotional stability. Only

PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242904 November 30, 2020 9 / 14

PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242904 November 30, 2020 10 / 14

Strengths and limitations

PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242904 November 30, 2020 11 / 14

PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242904 November 30, 2020 12 / 14

PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242904 November 30, 2020 13 / 14

PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242904 November 30, 2020 14 / 14

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